Bits and Pieces
by hamaiasa
Summary: Assorted drabbles, one-shots, and hopefully a few multi-shots! Anything I can think of. Rating for possible mild violence and stuff like that.
1. Chapter 1: questions and answers

**A/N: My first fanfiction! I know it's not great, so reviews would help ;) **

**A/N (Update): Thanks so much to magdalena7 for the German help! I like to make my stories as authentic as possible :)**

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><p>Alek knocked on the door of Volger's stateroom and entered at the weary <em>"kommen Sie in".<em>

Alek sat down lightly on an armchair and stared at the door, counting to twenty in his head before starting to talk. The officer guarding outside today was particularly fond of eavesdropping.

"How long will it be until we can escape?" he asked softly. "I don't mean to whine, but being a prisoner is _awfully_ boring." It was, to tell the truth. Yesterday, he had stayed in bed all day after the guard outside his door had refused to let him leave the room. This morning's guard had been more kind.

"And good morning to you as well," the count replied sardonically. "Ah, well, it depends. My sources tell me that we may be touching down a little sooner than Asia," he said as he stared pensively at the borrowed newspaper he held.

"Is that so?" Alek replied, curious.

"Yes," said Volger in a bored tone of voice as he turned the page. "Really, have you not heard all the talk about Russia? You must become more perspicacious, I think."

"Perspicacious," Bovril informed them both, leaping from Alek's shoulder to the spindly fabricated-wood tea table and staring out the window, where farmland was passing beneath them.

"Yes," agreed Volger. "So I'm afraid we cannot afford to make any plans before knowing exactly where we can escape. We may never get the chance: I don't think they liked our midnight stint in Istanbul too much."

There was a silence as Volger continued reading and Alek stared at his face on the front page.

"Volger," he said suddenly, forgetting to whisper.

"Yes?" the man in question replied, not looking up from _The New York World_.

"That…" the prince paused, choosing his words carefully. "That reporter, the man with the recording frog…"

"Mr. Malone?"

"Yes, him. He – er – played a recording of a conversation to me after coming off the Leviathan."

Volger looked up, eyebrows raised. "Interesting. Did it, by any chance, involve me and your beloved friend Dylan?"

"Er-"

Volger sighed and folded up the newspaper. "Quite what I'd expect from such an – ah – _untrustworthy_ character." He said slowly, lacing his fingers together and leaning back in the chair, staring intently at Alek. There was a silence, interrupted only by Alek cracking his knuckles.

"So," Volger spoke again, "your question is undoubtedly concerning certain things that I said to your friend."

"Ah, yes," said Alek. "He – he seemed quite frightened when you told him you knew…a secret of his, I believe?"

Volger smirked. "I'm very sorry, but I don't think it would be wise for me to reveal this secret to you. As I think you know, it works rather effectively in bringing your _Mr_. Sharp up to any task I may ever need of him."

"I see that you're no worse than that reporter at blackmail," replied Alek dryly. "Besides, I am his friend. I am sure he would want me to know."

"On the contrary," replied Volger calmly, turning to face the young prince. "The last person on earth your little friend would want knowing his secret is _you._ He would rather be thrown off the ship and be disgraced on front of the whole world from his secret than have _you_ know. Even though _you've_ told him every last little fact about yourself that you could," he added scathingly before continuing. "So, the most effective way that I could make him do what I want would be to threaten him with, well, _you_." He steepled his fingers and smiled, satisfied.

Alek looked away from the count to hide his confusion. That didn't sound right. Why would Dylan be "disgraced in front of the whole world" for having nightmares about his father? This was a different secret, he was sure of it now. But what was so bad about _him_ knowing that scared Dylan so much?

Bovril leaped back onto his shoulder as the young Austrian stood.

"I'll take your leave now, I think," he said hastily to the count before walking out of the room, determined to find his friend.

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><p><strong>So, should I continue? Y'all know what's gonna happen next, anyways :P <strong>

**THANKS FOR READING! XOXO**


	2. Chapter 2: questions and answers pt2

**A/N: My first multi-shot! This chapter is a continuation of the last chapter, from Deryn's POV instead of Alek's. I had a lot of trouble with this actually, because writing Deryn requires a whole different writing style...but I think I managed it in the end...did I? Please review!**

**Disclaimer: Not Scott. Trust.**

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><p>Deryn smiled slightly, the feeling of wind blowing the hot, sweaty sunlight away from her skin making all her worries seem far away. It was the first time she had duty on the Leviathan's topside since the day she had fenced with Alek. The same day she had saved Newkirk and all that clart that had somehow gotten her barking <em>decorated<em>. Her smile grew as she thought of what Jaspert would say when he heard. Aye, she would rub it in his face good and hard when he came around.

"Good morning, Mr. Sharp. One would wonder what you are thinking with a face like that." Dr. Barlow appeared with a smile of her own, that special one that made Deryn itch to hit her. She was about to make a rude retort when she saw the dark circles under the boffin's eyes, and her fading smile. A cranky boffin was best left alone.

"Aye, Dr. Barlow, good morning to you too," she replied, keeping her face polite and un-scowling. But her arm still itched.

"I do not know if you are aware of this," Dr. Barlow began, looking at her intently, "but I've come to inform you that the captain is, in fact, most seriously considering your promotion." Deryn kept her face blank: this was old news. "He told me that he was highly impressed with your survival instinct, and said that any other man trained at your level would have died along with the others members of the mission you led. Not only did you manage to survive the Germans, but you made it back to Istanbul and were able to flag us down upon our return to collect both you and the...prisoners." She pinched her lips together in distaste, obviously resenting the captain's choice of words. "Well, yes, and he said much more about you, asking my advice, considering you for a lieutenant's spot–"

"_Lieutenant?_" squeaked Deryn loudly. Luckily, the wind was too loud for anyone farther away than Dr. Barlow and the nearest hydrogen sniffer to hear her unusually high tone. The sniffer turned and, well, sniffed.

"Yes, lieutenant," replied Dr. Barlow amusedly, her itchy smile back. "He told me most specifically that he would not consider you for any position lower than it. The Air Gallantry Cross deserves no less."

"But–" But what? Being promoted so high was more than she could ever dream of. And it wasn't as if she couldn't handle it, with her air sense and skill. It was true, she did deserve it. And oh, did she want it.

But she wasn't so daft that she couldn't see how well-judged a move this was from the captain. A midshipman served food to prisoners and had free time to fence on the topside without any objections. A lieutenant, on the other hand, was much too busy to meet with prisoners, with duties piled on top of each other like raspberry pancakes. She would never get to see Alek, an obvious enough message from the captain. Her mission to keep an eye on the Clankers had gone too far, and he had noticed. He was telling her loud and clear that the mission ended right now.

The lady boffin had been silent this whole time, observing Deryn with a serious expression on her face. It seemed that she, too, had realized the significance of the captain's decision.

The boffin's mouth opened as if to say something, but a loud voice startled her into shutting it:

"Dylan! Oh, er, hello, Dr. Barlow," Alek stammered, his run slowing to a walk. Deryn could see him blushing. What a ninny.

"Hello, Aleksandar," Dr. Barlow replied, her voice all motherly and honeyish.

"Yes, er, I wanted to talk with Dylan," Alek said, staring at her with a resolute look in his eyes.

"Oh, yes. I'll leave you two alone in a moment. I know how you two like to talk!" Deryn scratched her arm. "Just one thing, Mr. Sharp. I realize I never properly congratulated you on your decoration, and now I do. Your daring rescue of Mr. Newkirk deserved no less an honour." She paused, looking in the distance. "In fact, this medal runs in the family, does it not? I remember reading about your…uncle, I believe. Sacrificing himself for his daughter, such bravery. Your cousin, wasn't she, Deryn Sharp? Horrible, horrible," she said, stifling a yawn. "I think I must retire to my rooms now, I'm feeling awfully sleepy. Good day to you both…" she trailed off as she saw the expression on Alek's face. "Are – are you quite fine, Aleksandar?"

"Oh, yes," he replied, staring with narrowed eyes at Deryn. "You may leave, Dr. Barlow. Good day."

Of course, she thought, looking desperately away from Alek and chewing her lip. I told him that it was my da that burned. _Dummkopf_. I should have expected this. _Dummkopf. Dummkopf._

Deryn watched Dr. Barlow leave, swishing her skirts self-importantly and twirling her parasol like a proper lady. But she turned and gave her a wee smile, her dress blowing to the side in the wind, hair coming out of her usually-neat bun, rings dark and wide around her eyes. And this smile didn't itch a squick.

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><p><strong>This was going to be two parts, but, well, now it's three. It sounded really good when I wrote it, and then infinitely stupid when I read it over...which one is it? Reviews please :) Thanks for reading!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: questions and answers pt3

**A/N: Soooo, here we go, part three of this humble little multi-shot, in a pitifully slow update! (I guess it would sort of be flattering in a weird sort of way if anyone likes the story enough to be mad about late updates XDD) There will be another chapter in "questions and answers" after this one, to wrap it up, I guess. After that, I promise I'll move onto other things with hopefully faster updates. So, POV-switching is hopefully clearly enough written, first part Alek second part Deryn: hope you like it!**

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><p>o o o ALEK o o o<p>

Was this some sort of mad coincidence? Strangely, Alek didn't feel like it was.

On the Leviathan's spine the harsh wind was loud and accusing, entirely different from the tedious stillness inside the ship. All of the workmen were ogling him with the unsubtlety of proper Darwinists: that is, all but one. Dylan was looking away vaguely, biting his lip furiously and avoiding his stare.

Dr. Barlow and Volger had both gone and left him with a baffling puzzle to solve: what in _blazes_ was Dylan's secret?

Did it have anything to do with the fact that Dylan had seemingly lied about his father's death? It was, of course, possible that both his uncle and his father had died the same way, sacrificing their children for their own lives, but Dylan's troubled expression made him think otherwise.

"_The last person on earth your little friend would want knowing his secret is you." _An idiot, that Volger was, being all cryptic and clever on him. But…was it true? Why would it be _him_, out of all the people in the world, that Dylan was worried to tell? An inexplicable anger doused his mind. Was he so terrible at keeping secrets that his only friend didn't trust him with one of his own?

The silence stretched out like a prisoner on the rack. Alek kept his eyes hard and his head up as his mind worked feverishly. He wished that some sort of epiphany would come to him and end this fuss. Hopefully then, things would just go back to what they were before.

"Alek," whispered Bovril from his shoulder, staring at Dylan with its wizened eyes.

The midshipman's eyes locked on him for a few startling seconds before they shifted to the beastie on his shoulder. Bovril crept down his side and down onto the airship's skin, making a noise like wind blowing all the while. Alek looked down at it warily. Was it possible that this beast…knew?

"Alek," came the voice again, faltering slightly. But this time, it was Dylan's mouth that moved. Bovril climbed onto his shoulder and made a noise like a cat purring. Dylan swallowed and looked down.

"Deryn Sharp," said Bovril suddenly, and Dylan's face snapped up to look at it, eyes wide. He looked almost afraid. Deryn Sharp? Did she have some part in this as well? God's wounds, but this was complicated.

"Your cousin, wasn't she," the loris mused. Dylan took a deep breath and stuck his head up, looking Alek straight in the eye, making him shiver in the cold wind. What was it about the look on his face that unsettled him…?

"Right," the boy started, his voice oddly low. "I – I want to tell you about her. Deryn Sharp." He paused to gather his thoughts, as if beginning a story.

"She was…different, she was. Not like the other lassies, all flashy and lovey-dovey, wearing corsets under their aprons. She was always more…like a boy. Boyish, aye." Alek raised his eyebrows. He appreciated Dylan's telling him about his family, but what in blazes did this have to do with him?

Dylan ploughed on. "Her father always took her with him on his trips in his old hot air balloon, and she loved it up there. And then...then her father died, and then she knew she would never be able to fly again. Who would take a wee girl like her up to the sky ever again? But she knew that she belonged up here, with the clouds and the birds and the air. And she knew needed to get back up here, no matter what." He swallowed nervously. Bovril purred again.

"She was a daft lassie, that one. Mad, she was. So, well, she took a pair of shears and chopped all her hair off, changed her name, and enlisted in the British Air Service. And – and I know she's happy now, on a ship of her own, in the air–" Dylan choked off, looking down and covering his eyes with one hand. _Mein Gott_. Was he crying?

Alek moved towards him instinctively, but Dylan thrust out an arm, looking up with eyes that burned into his shockingly, despite their dampness.

"Don't you see?" he whispered, licking his thin lips. "Or are you too much of a _Dummkopf_ to realize?"

And then it hit him with the force of a speeding train, so hard that he staggered backwards, staring at Dylan. What a ridiculous idea. No, it had to be something else, it _had _to be.

Oh, bloody hell. His best friend was a girl.

o o o DERYN o o o

There. It was done.

Her career. Her secret. Her friendship with Alek.

Deryn's throat ached with held-in tears, her cheeks chapped from the wind, and she fought the need to run from Alek's horrified eyes, his darting scrutiny, looking for a reason why he had missed such a huge thing about his best friend. She was no coward, girl or no girl.

"_Mr._ Sharp," said Bovril softly, crawling down her sleeve again.

The ship swayed a squick in the hellish gale, but Alek didn't move. He seemed to be frozen in place, face like hewn stone. She found herself smiling bitterly at the stretching silence; this was exactly how she had imagined it.

The wind blew through the silence, the lookout Huxley swinging slightly above them like a girl at a village dance. She suddenly hated Alek, this naïve little prince that made her into a sentimental fool every time she saw him. Why did it have to be _him, _a clanker and barking royalty at that? Someone so ridiculously out of her reach it was pitiful? Right now she wished a wee bit that she had just gone and fallen in love with Newkirk instead…

"You don't know what a friend you have in Dylan." Bovril repeated Lilit's words sadly, again on Alek's shoulder. Alek shut his eyes slowly and curled his stupidly quivering fingers into fists.

"_Nein,_" he said carefully, voice edged with ice. "_Ich habe keine Freunde._"

Deryn cracked.

"I'm going to be promoted," she said shortly, making sure to keep her voice flat and cold, like the wind. His eyes flew open. "To lieutenant."

And with that, she strode past him, the tears finally falling.

How could he say he had no friends when she was right there, longing for him?


	4. Chapter 4: questions and answers pt4

**A/N: Whew! Part four at last, and you can be sure there's no more stretching this out ;) Thanks for all the amazing reviews so far! Each one cheers me up and makes my day!**

**To anonymous reviewer Elke: I'm afraid I had to use Google Translate for that one, like the rest of the German in my story :P but thanks so much for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter :)**

**Goliath tomorrow was partly why I stuck this chapter on without a proper ending: the other part is that I didn't want to leave this until the stage where I have no life except homework (which comes around starting halfway through next month maybe? LOL).**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and settings (c) Scott Westerfeld.**

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><p>o o o DERYN o o o<p>

"Come in," came the lady boffin's posh voice from the other side of the door. Taking care to keep her face expressionless, Deryn opened the door and pushed the food cart inside, calmly assessing the situation inside.

Dr. Barlow and Volger were sitting in facing armchairs, the boffin's expression pleased and the count's rather sour as they turned to look at her. There was a well-worn and neatly-folded copy of _The New York World_ sitting on the floor next to Volger's chair, Alek's face looking up at the ceiling blandly from the cover. Other than that, everything was exactly in their places, perfectly dusty at that.

Deryn hoped her eyes didn't look red as she wordlessly clinked two teacups onto the table and started to pour the tea. These two clever-boots would figure out what had happened in a squick if-

"Ah, Mr. Sharp. I was wondering if something had, er, _happened_ between you and Alek?" asked Volger, with a pure dead nasty look on his face. Deryn swore under her breath as she frantically searched her brain for a usable excuse. What had they realized?

"Yes, I was just wondering the same thing," Dr. Barlow inserted, with a triumphant smile at the count. Volger's face jerked into a snarl.

Deryn placed the teapot on the cart and looked from one to the other, one eyebrow raised. These two were always up to something odd. She'd have to watch her step.

"No, ma'am. And, er, count," she added on hastily. Cranky boffins were far out-fouled by cranky counts. "I don't think-"

A knock came on the door. Deryn flinched and shut her mouth fast. If this was...

"Come in," repeated the lady boffin, cheery as a christmas card. The door opened and Alek stepped in, Bovril on his shoulder. Deryn looked away quickly, feeling both of their stares on her, willing her face blank and her cheeks cold.

"What is going on in here?" he asked in English, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Barking sneaky Clankers.

"Well, I thought I'd pay your count a little visit," the doctor told him smoothly. "We have much to discuss. As for Dylan here, he is merely delivering our afternoon tea. Care to join us?"

To Deryn's surprise, Alek silently stepped over to a third armchair and took a seat. She set down a third teacup and poured his tea, automatically stirring in his exactly one and a half spoons of sugar. Barking sugar-guzzling clankers, she thought as she quietly passed the tea to his side of the table, feeling his gaze on her again.

The three plumes of steam were now rising like ghosts towards the ceiling, somewhat reminding her of humid times with Alek inside the hatch of that clanker contraption. She barely stifled a sigh as she took a plate of biscuits from the cart. Would things ever be like before?

"Biscuits?" she asked politely, putting them onto the table all delicately and feeling like a housewife all the while. Hell, she would be happy to be rid of this job once she was lieutenant. No more being a personal waiter to prisoners and boffins.

Her nerves jangled a wee bit as she closed up the tray and opened the door. If she could make it out the door before they remembered...

"Mr. Sharp," came Volger's cold voice from behind her. "I'm afraid you haven't fully answered my question yet. Could you please us with a proper reply this time?"

Deryn took a deep breath, keeping her back facing the trio of tea-drinkers. _Just say it._

"No. My answer is no, nothing has happened. Now if you would please-"

"'Nothing has happened'?" mused Dr. Barlow, swooping in like a strafing hawk that's spotted its kill. "I want the truth, and I will get it. I'm sure that by now I can tell when you are lying, _Miss Deryn Sharp_."

She pronounced the last three words like a victory, a death sentence, letting them hang there like three criminals on their nooses. So. She knew too.

Deryn wanted to turn and scream at those posh bumrags, sitting on their wee cushiony chairs, prim as china dolls; she wanted to shake them till they cracked. Who were these - these _people_, to be able to break her, to make her cry?

"Don't you see? Or are you too much of a _Dummkopf_ to realize?" came Deryn's own voice, soft and feminine and shaking like a gyrothopter in a storm. Bovril. She shut her eyes and shook her head slowly, rubbing her eyes. It was over now.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" thundered Volger, pounding his fist hard onto the table, a loud thump followed by the crash of a teacup meeting the floor. Deryn squeaked and spun around, just in time to see the horrible twisted expression on Volger's face directed towards her. She froze as he stepped towards her. Oh, bloody hell, she always knew that cranky counts weren't worth the fight.

"I thought you were a sensible girl, but evidently I was wrong." the count said, teeth clenched and feet moving. "I can tell very well that you thought yourself brave enough to dare tell the boy. Does it even occur to you that Alek would never take you? Idiot that he is, he knows that marrying a commoner would just mean misery for everyone, and _you_, a worthless little _girl_, cannot change that!"

He had her backed up against the wall now, hand raised as if to slap her. She shut her eyes quick. She wouldn't flinch. She made every lifethread in her body repeat it, as if it would do any good._ I won't flinch. I won't flinch. I won't flinch._

"God's wounds, man!" His voice punctured through her eyelid's blackness, its closeness forcing them open. Alek was staring up at Volger with a disgusted expression on his face, his hand holding tight around the count's wrist, Bovril sitting on his shoulder and hissing at the count. "I don't know what on _earth_ you're going on about, nor do I care, but I can't just stand around and watch you strike a - a girl!"

Silence fell again. The two Clankers were staring at each other, Alek's face determined, and Volger's a squick afraid. But Deryn had an odd feeling in her guts that he wasn't afraid of Alek at all. As the two men dropped their arms, she realized that Volger had already gone through this once, with Alek's father, and he had seen what a hellish end he had. Volger just didn't want the same end for Alek.

All too suddenly, Deryn felt a wrenching desire to just forget about Alek. Forget all her glassy dreams of ever being anything more than his friend, throw them to the ground and stomp on them with a walker's iron feet, snip them off like long hair from her heavy scalp. It would be best for both of them, wouldn't it? Everyone would have their way. And with a little help from Alek's "providence", things could go back to what they were before all of today's clart.

She landed back on earth to see the two Austrians stepping away from her and looking at the floor like proper Clankers. Alek was smiling grimly, his green eyes glinting with the small victory, long fingers toying with a button on his jacket.

Barking handsome Clankers.

"Well," said the lady boffin shakily, skirts swishing as she rose to her feet. She gave a wee chuckle as the two men cricked their necks to see her. "I must apologize to the three of you. It would seem that this whole...incident is almost entirely my fault, with some involuntary aid from our count." There was a slight silence. Alek frowned, and Deryn narrowed her eyes. The boffin sighed melodramatically.

"You see, after I heard Volger's conversation with Alek - don't look at me like that, Count - I just couldn't resist. I took out my powder and painted under my eyes, pulled hair out of my bun, and went up to the spine. The rest, you both should know, I presume."

Deryn's mouth fairly fell open by itself.

"S-so...you..." stumbled Alek, eyes wide.

"I had this planned from the beginning, yes," said the boffin crisply. "And I think it worked quite well, if you ask me."

A heavy silence fell, like a stifling cloak in the heat of summer. Volger was looking bloody murder at the boffin, and Deryn could have sworn his hand was twitching to the saber at his belt. Alek looked like someone had just gone and whacked him on the head. Dr. Barlow was silent, playing with a ring on her gloved finger.

Deryn sighed and turned to the tea cart. As much as she'd like to stay and let out all the pent-up feeling glooped up in her stomach, this wasn't the time nor the place for it. Her work here was done.

"Wait," said Dr. Barlow. Deryn stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm sorry," she said, still looking at her hands. "I thought it would be best."


	5. Chapter 5: songdrabbles!

**A/N: Wow, a double update! These were my first ever song drabbles, written over a month ago. I don't have a music player that can shuffle things up, so I had to scroll around my Grooveshark "My Music" folder and click on things randomly ^^;; I hope it worked! I did cheat on these by editing (a lot), and the cute little lyrics-excerpts were also added afterwards. Enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>My Only Wish<strong>

**Jessica Simpson**

_"My only wish for Christmas is you..." _

Deryn Sharp looked out the frosted window and tried not to sigh. She should cheer up. Christmas was a time of wishes and presents, and she had gotten plenty, along with her favourite treacle tarts. But she couldn't shake the fact that her only real wish was an impossible thing. She wanted Alek to know. She wanted him to love her as she was. But that could never happen, could it?

A knocking on the door jerked her out of her thoughts. She wiped the cloudy window and squinted. Blisters. Maybe this Santa Claus bloke did exist, after all.

**The Box**

**Katy Perry**

_"Living outside of the box / 'cause I'm not gonna be anybody that I'm not!" _

It was enough. Just enough. She couldn't take it anymore. Gravity had kept her down for much too long.

She crept into Jaspert's room quietly and shook him.

"What? It's three in the mornin', bloody let me sleep–"

"I have a plan."

**She Got to You**

**Esperanza Spalding**

_"I know you wanted me too / before she got to you" _

Dr. Barlow frowned, her eyes hard. That – that man! How _dare_ he get engaged! She knew none of what he had said to her had been true, but seeing him like this? Happily in love with another woman? It hurt.

He caught her eye and stared, unsmiling, before standing and unceremoniously making his way to her.

"Doctor. I'm breaking this engagement."

Speechless, the boffin turned towards him.

"I don't love her. This is just some political riffraff. I only agreed to it for the empire's sake, but I now see that Alek was right. Politics don't mix well with love," he finished sternly, moustache twitching insufferably.

Dr. Barlow stared for a moment, then burst out laughing. The count raised his eyebrows. Women were quite interesting sometimes.

**Evacuate the Dancefloor**

**Cascada**

_"Steal the night / kill the lights / feel it under your skin..." _

Gasps of surprise filled the ballroom, but the couple didn't care. They kept it up, cheeks red and bodies rubbing together most innapropriately, smiling like fools. This waltz would raise headlines the next day, both in German and English. Family history, they would say.

They finished the dance breathing hard, silence hard and cold against the marble walls of the room. But the emperor simply turned back to the Darwinist and took her hands.

"One more?"

**Latin Moon**

**Mia Martina**

_"Beneath the blanket of shining stars / I'll spend forever in your arms"_

"Let's dance!"

"You're _barking_ drunk, Alek. This Mexican clart is too strong for you."

"Oh, th-tha..."

"Your nose is red."

"W-WHAT? STOP LAUGHING!"

"Alright, alright. Let's dance."

**Coming Home**

**Dirty Money feat. Skylar Grey**

_"Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday"_

"Stop here, please," Deryn told the cabbie. He obeyed, taking her coins and driving away in his new-fangled car. She counted the money still left in her pouch and swore. They _were_ bloody expensive, weren't they.

Deryn stopped in front of the door, not climbing the steps. Drops of water dotted the bricks, the dark clouds making everything smell like rain. You couldn't have home without the rain.

Suddenly, a whole pile of memories flooded her mind. Climbing the tree in the front yard and thinking she was on top of the world. Sitting by the window and dreaming of flying. Drawing her brother in her new sketch pad, mud stains and all. Her last talk with her father.

The door opened swiftly, dragging Deryn out of her reverie.

"Oi, gramma, look who's here!"

**Do You Remember**

**Jay Sean**

_"Do you remember all of the times we had?"_

"Remember how we used to sit in some hidden room and talk? Just talk, all night?"

"Remember how sleepy I was in the morning? And you, the barking prince, got to sleep in as late as you wanted-"

"And Japan, with its "sushi"?"

"Argh, don't remind me of _that_!"

"Lilit? Zaven? Malone?"

"I'm not sure I liked the last one so much."

"…"

"…"

"Those were the good days, weren't they?"

"…Aye. They were."

**My Name is Kay**

**Kay**

_"You just keep on talking / don't know what my name is!" _

It made her want to throw something sometimes. How someone would call her "Dylan" and she wouldn't turn. How Alek would stare at her all trustingly and honestly and bile would rise in her throat because she was _lying_.

Her name was _Deryn_, barking spiders!

**April Fool**

**S.E.N.S Project**

_*instrumental*_

"God's wounds! Is this some kind of joke?" Alek stared at the person on front of him incredulously. A_ girl_, of all things?

Dylan – what on earth was her name? – just narrowed her eyes and looked away.

They were on their own, walking on the evening streets of Tokyo, and Alek was grateful for the distractions as the silence between them grew longer and longer…

"Midshipman Deryn Sharp," Bovril said quietly. Alek looked at the beastie, then at its perch. She nodded. Deryn Sharp it was.

**Telephone**

**Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce**

_"Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna think any more"_

"STOP. BARKING. CALLING!" screamed Deryn, throwing the her cellphone at the wall and sinking to the ground, grinding her teeth. It was bad that she had lied to him for so long, but did he have to call her and barking _whine_ about it?

"Bloody-clanker-princes-_Dummkopf_-_Dummkopf_-_Dummkopf_-_Dummkopf_-"

The door swung open and Deryn trailed off.

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?" asked Jaspert, eyes darting around the room.

"Er..."

The phone rang.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: R****eviews are like zero-calorie ice cream sundaes to my Goliath-deprived mind :D thaaank you!**


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